Scion - Before the Dawn

The party are shocked by the surprise attack on the street, and rush into the building to find their attacker. It’s a City of London University building, and whilst Alan attempts to charm the receptionist into believing that he is a visiting lecturer and Connor is his sound engineer, the rest of the group sneak into the corridor nearby. Chelsea works out which room he ran through, and by the time Leon has picked up the trail, Alan and Connor have rejoined the group.
Leon and Connor track the man into a nearby lecture hall; Connor breaks the door handle trying to pick the lock, and so Eddie turns the door into splinters.
Chelsea is scared by the sudden noise, and hides in a lectern – Leon is the only one who notices her do so,
Connor and Leon realise that the man has run straight through the lecture hall, through the wall and into another building. They decide it’s time to move on. As they collect Chelsea and start to leave, there’s a scream from the doorway – the receptionist has seen the damage they’ve caused. She runs.
When the party reaches the reception, she is on the phone to the police. Connor cuts the phone cord, and she tries to hide under the desk. When Connor is unable to calm her down, Chelsea shoots her with a tranquilizer dart. Leon leaves a note of apology and some money to cover the cost of the door.

The group head out into the street, and then into the Library. Billy is at the front desk, and he hands them a note from The Archivist, saying that she’s having a bad day and can’t talk to visitors. The note is an address of the shop on Portobello Road that the original contact had obtained the Book from.

When the party reach the shop – Andrews Antiques – they are greeted by a young shop assistant. She is happy to help them, and gives them the name of the auction house where they purchased the Book. She then turns, and on seeing Eddie, starts panicking, saying that he’s bleeding from his arms. She tries to bandage him.
Leon possesses her briefly, confirming that she is indeed seeing blood pouring from Eddie’s scars. Connor, believing she has the Sight, touches her, breathing out cold air, and suddenly the whole party can see Jonny (Connor’s spirit guide). Upon seeing him, the shop assistant (Alison) faints.
Alan leaves the shop, and calls his contact – Miss Sandra Songarsson. She tells him that the auction house – The Peacock Rooms – are holding an auction the next day, and that she’ll try to get him a seat.
Inside, the shop owner runs down the stairs, demanding to know what’s going on. Chelsea tries to shoot him with a Truth dart, but unfortunately hits him with a mild mind-altering seed instead. He starts giggling. Chelsea leaves the shop.
Whilst Connor and Eddie are distracted with the unconscious Alison, Leon notices something strange about Andrews. Leaning closer, he sees the shop owner’s eyes go from dilated to pinpoints, and a raspy voice comes from his throat. It addresses Leon as ‘The son of Shango’, and tells him to visit Mamalwe, as she can tell them what’s going on. The voice laughs, and tells Leon that it’s a family affair.
Eddie leaves a note saying sorry.

The party head towards Mamalwe’s flat, which is in a block of flats a few streets away. The outside of the building is covered in graffiti, but Mamalwe’s front door is spotless, with lovely window boxes of flowers. Connor notices fetishes tucked in amongst the flowers.
Eddie knocks, and when there’s no reply, calls through the post box. He hears a thump and a muffled scream, and so punches the door into splinters and rushes in.
Everyone else follows (though Chelsea hangs behind, and Connor is at the other end of the block of flats), and they burst into the sitting room. There are three tall cloaked figures by the door, and at the back of the room is a chair with an old woman tied to it, and a young man that looks a little like the first attacker holding his hand over her face.
Eddie punches the first mysterious figure, ripping its cloak and jaw off. It appears to be a dried out corpse, and probably a zombie. Eddie quickly punches its head into pieces. Leon slices open the chest of another, but when he tries to athletically tackle the guy at the back, misses and falls to the floor. The man shouts something in an unfamiliar language at the zombies, and they attack with renewed vigour Alan shoots the guy, burning a substantial hole through his chest. As Eddie punches the last zombie’s head off, Alan stalks towards the man, changing his appearance to Terrible, and pulling out his two-handed hammer and swinging it nonchalantly. The man screams and pulls his own dagger, plunging it into his gut.
Chelsea runs forward, and tries to stabilise the man. With blood gushing from his mouth, he says that Beauregarde sent him to question Mamalwe as ‘she knows’. That’s all the party need to hear, and they leave him to finish dying.
Leon has taken Mamalwe into the kitchen and poured her some rum. Though she appears very shaken, she tells the group that Beauregarde was her protege. Mamalwe had heard rumours that the Book was in London, and had tried to buy it from the shop but was too late. She says that the other two items – a Bell and a Candle – were probably still with the original sellers, as she had heard no rumours of them being sold. She says that it’s a family affair.
After making sure that Mamalwe is okay – she calls her grandsons to come and take care of her – the group leave (Chelsea Green Thumb’s a plant, and gives it to Mamalwe as a gift).

Once back at the house, the group pursue some personal projects. Leon goes for a run. Alan starts sourcing some crafting materials. Chelsea starts growing some specific plants. Eddie goes on a date with his girlfriend, Annie. Connor sends a text to his ex-girlfriend, Sigrun.

The five Scions enter the library, and speak to a man behind the counter. He calls for Billy, the Archivist’s PA, who turns out to be a mid-twenties hipster. He takes them through the library, into a courtyard and opens the door of an adjoining house. He leaves them in a room completely covered in books.

The group is quite surprised when the Archivist (Winifred ‘Winnie’ Aberfoyle) makes her entrance by accidentally knocking over a very large stack of books. She is probably 19, with short bright blue hair and very large glasses. She is perplexed by the group at first, but then appears to recognise them and names them.
She is very excited by the Roman Eagle box, and even more so by the book. She tells the group to check out their new house while she takes a look at it.

They troop off to their house, to find that it is a lovely 5 story Victorian house on the corner of Phoenix Street. The basement is split into a garage and a workshop. The ground floor is an open-plan kitchen/sitting room, and a small gym. The top three floors are bedrooms. It has a garden and a greenhouse at the back of the property.

The group take a few hours to settle in.
Chelsea moves her mattress and things into the green house. She asks Alan to craft her a herb garden (it’s beautiful, with little clockwork flowers on the corners).
Alan takes Eddie and Leon aside to give them some ‘advice’ on the suitability of their attire for such an upmarket part of town. Their reactions are somewhat different – Leon goes upstairs and puts on a nicer suit than Alan’s. Eddie takes a temper-cooling walk outside in the street, flaunting his wife beater and beanie.
Connor takes it all in.

The group go to pick up all their things from their previous places of residence. As they return, they receive a call from the Archivist who tells them that she unwrapped the book, but was unable to open it. It is a Bible, bound in leather, and stamped on the front are the words – “One for words, and one to call, and one to light the way.
By speech, sound and shadow I abjure thee.”
Winnie thinks that there are two objects that go with the bible, but she’s not sure what they are. She asks them to meet her at the House of Books.

They drive to the Library, but have to park further away than before. As they walk down the street, a young man appears as if from nowhere, and pins Chelsea to the wall. He shouts at her, asking where the book is. As the rest of the party start to react, pulling weapons on him, he lets her go and runs away, straight through the nearest wall.

Early the next morning, two other strangers turn up at the Shard, and make their way to floor 43. After a short chat with Maximillian (in which he presents to them the same offer as before, they agree to a probationary mission.
They introduce themselves to each other – Chelsea (like the Flower Show), Scion of Geb, and Eddie, Scion of Huitzilopochtli.

They pick up a minivan, and head to a small bar in the East End. A man meets them there, and hands them a book, wrapped in white cloth.

On the way to the Library, they realise they are being followed by a large 4×4. It tries to drive them off the road, but when it is unsuccessful it drives off. As it does, Chelsea sees a glimpse of the face of their attacker.

They park up outside the Library, but before they can enter they are confronted by a trio of strange-looking men who also claim to be looking for the Archivist. After some cautious back and forth, all five enter the Library.

Three strangers are called to a meeting in the newly opened Shard, in central London. Arriving after dark, they meet in a lobby on the 43rd floor. The sign on the wall – Hepaomai Conglomerate – seems new, as do the white leather couches and dark blue carpet. The receptionist, a thin-lipped grey haired woman called Ms Lancaster rings through to an office, and the strangers sit and wait.

A dark haired woman bursts out from the office door, screaming as she goes “This is not the end of the matter, Maximillian!”. She disappears into the lift.

The strangers are called into the office, where they cross an expanse of bare cream carpet to an expensive looking desk by the far window. A man is behind it, staring out across the city.

He turns, and introduces himself as Maximillian Derrer, CEO. He’s smartly dressed, in his mid-fifties. He talks to the strangers as if he knows who they are, that they are not just your average human being. They introduce themselves; Connor Helson, Alan Solomon, Leon Jakuta.

He offers them a deal. They are to work as a retrieval team, working together to find objects of… interest. There have been reports of things that are causing difficulties, and Maximillian would like these objects retrieved, studied, and perhaps the less dangerous put in the museums that he donates to. In return, he will provide information, accommodation, transport, expenses. It’s a pretty deal, and the three are unsurprisingly suspicious. However, they do accept. Maximillian gives them a tablet with the details of their first pick up, and they leave.

Alan and Leon get into a company minivan, and Connor gets his motorcycle. They drive to Chichester, arriving just as the bar in the small country hotel they are in is taking last orders. Five minutes after they arrive, their contact walks in the door. He’s a nervous looking man, and introduces himself as Declan. He gives the group a wooden box, saying “This is your problem now”. He leaves.

The party examine the box, and, after some discussion, Alan unscrews the hinges. Inside is a lump of metal, which they identify as a Roman Eagle. Thinking of the drive back, the group go to their respective hotel rooms.

4 am. Leon wakes up to the sound of marching feet outside his door. He looks out, and see the other hotel guests disappearing down the coridoor. He follows them.

Alan wakes up, and sees Leon leaving his room. He wakes Connor, and, taking the box with them, they track the guests out of the hotel and down onto the green. In the moonlight they can see that the 12 people who had been in the hotel were at the bottom of a slope, seemingly marching in a square. Connor, using Death Sight, sees that the 12 are actually part of a one hundred, people from all the centuries since the original Roman centurions.

Connor fashions a stave from a nearby tree, and Alan, opening the box, fastens the eagle to the top. Leon sees the marchers turn and start marching towards Connor. When they reach him, he questions them, but they only answer “We follow the Eagle”.

Leon sees one of the older guests fall to the ground, and Connor sees his spirit rise as the body dies.

Connor cuts his arms, and, holding the Eagle, petitions his Mother for assistance.

An icy wind blows through the green. A portal opens, like a tear in the air. Connor cries “Forward march!”, and the century march towards the portal; Alan realises the living amongst them are going as well. He fires his pistol, and small bullets of lightening hit 8 of the 11 living walkers. The rest disappear into the darkness.

In the stunned silence, Connor realises that a small square of black card is floating down towards him. He catches it and reads " Don’t try that shit again." It disappears into a puff of ash.